Rites of Passage
by ifyoucanfindmeimhere
Summary: Written for surena 13 for the LJ MajorCrimes Comm Wishlist Exchange. One-shot- borrows characters from Past is Prologue, but you do not have to have read that for this) "I guess there is no getting out of this, is there?"


Sharon turned, straining to see the back of her head in the small compact mirror, and strategically pushed another bobby pin through the thick mass of her hair. She nodded her head vigorously twice, then, satisfied it would stay in place, she reached for her hat where it lay on her desk and placed it on her head, careful to not dislodge the bun. She checked the mirror again as a knock sounded on her office door, and the door opened a crack.

"Sharon, are you ready? It's time."

She rolled her eyes. The squad had been trying to hurry her along for the last fifteen minutes, and apparently they had now recruited Rusty to do their bidding. It wasn't her fault it took her so much longer than the boys to get into uniform, though she was a little jealous of the fact that they didn't have to try and wrestle hair into a tiny regulation bun or worry about how every time she wore the uniform (which was rarely, thankfully, what with the promotions freeze and so far this year, no officer deaths), she felt like she could see more and more clearly the age written across the lines in her face. The uniform gave her no place to hide.

"You can come in Rusty, I'm almost ready." Almost immediately the door swung all the way open and Rusty entered. Sharon set the mirror back down on her desk and turned towards him. "Well?"

Rusty smirked and opened his mouth, but before he could speak Sharon cut him off "And let me remind you, Mister, that I'm your ride home, so I suggest you watch what you say."

Rusty's grin only widened. "Actually, I'm your ride. I drove myself, remember?" He patted his pants pocket where her car keys jingled softly.

"Oh, right," Sharon gave him an exaggerated wink back. On his 17th birthday she had finally relented in letting him get his drivers license, and though she still warned him all the time to be careful, she had to admit he was a remarkably conscientious driver. "Thank you again for bringing my uniform. I can't believe I forgot it this morning?"

"What, you mean you didn't have better things to do than remember it when you got called out at 3am?"

Sharon conceded his point. "I was mostly concentrating on getting downstairs before Provenza started honking and woke up the whole neighborhood."

Rusty shared her smile, and then cocked his head to look at her critically. "I've never seen you wear the uniform before. You look different."

Sharon cringed inwardly, but waited for him to elaborate. "I mean, it just looks so official. Real."

She scoffed and gave him her sternest glare. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I just…uh, I mean…" Rusty stammered, and she let him try to backpedal for a moment before bumping shoulders with him and letting him know she was teasing. "It's okay, Rusty, I know what you mean. When he was young, my son used to tell people that his mother was only "sometimes" a police officer, after I made detective and stopped wearing the uniform every day. He thought it only counted when I was in uniform."

"Really?"

She shook her head. "Getting this uniform was one of the proudest days of my life, but I'll admit, I'm glad I don't have to wear it most of the time."

Before Rusty could respond, there was another knock and they turned to see Flynn standing in the doorway, himself fully decked out in his own uniform. "Captain," she turned to look at him, and his eyes widened, and he threw her a mischievous grin. "Looking good, Captain."

"Don't you even start with me, Lieutenant." Her tone was stern but there was an unmistakable twinkle in her eye. Flynn threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't say anything, Captain. Just a bit of a blast from the past seeing you wearing that."

Sharon nodded, and gave him her own once over. "It is indeed, Lieutenant. It is indeed."

He grinned at their shared moment, and then said apologetically, "Taylor just called again. They're waiting for us."

Sharon sighed. "I guess there is no getting out of this, is there?"

"Nope." Flynn shared a wink with Rusty, both of them well aware of how hard Sharon had tried to avoid what was coming next, but to no avail. Sharon continued to grumble under her breath as she flipped off the lights and nodded to Flynn as he let her pass through the office before securing her office door and falling in step behind her and Rusty. He chuckled to himself as he watched Rusty slip his hand through Sharon's left elbow as they walked in unison towards the elevators. Rusty didn't look at her, even when Sharon glanced over towards him, and Andy just smiled back at her when she looked at him with raised eyebrows, holding her free hand out for him to grasp. They had become a family. All of them had.

…..

Sharon shifted slightly, trying to turn her face just away from the hot rays of the afternoon sun, but it was impossible while standing at attention. She had forgotten sunscreen in her haste to get ready, and she could just imagine what her skin would look like when Pope finally got around to finishing his self-flagellating speech, full of rousing stories about how under his leadership the officers receiving commendation today had become a more cohesive unit. This had been exactly why she had strenuously tried to avoid being part of the ceremony. Far as she was concerned, her bars could have been delivered through an inter-office memo, and so long as the end result was still the same, why should she have to go through all this pomp and circumstance?

The sound of her name being called broke her from her reverie, and she realized Taylor and Pope were both looking at her expectantly. She smiled tightly and made her way across the stage towards them, studiously avoiding looking towards the crowd. She had made that mistake once, years ago, when receiving a medal of commendation for a particularly nasty IA case that had involved a whole ring of corrupt officers. Months of work to take the ring down, and even many months after that when she had received a medal for it, she had looked out into the crowd, only to find that the noise being made at the announcement of her name wasn't applause, but catcalls and boos from the officers in attendance, and the sound of a few lone superior officers trying half-heartedly to shush them.

She reached Chief Pope who shook her hand politely, then took a step towards Taylor, who handed her her bars with a tight smile. "Congratulations, Commander Raydor. Never thought I'd see the day."

She nodded her head towards him. "Neither did I Chief."

The noise in the audience continued as she made her way to stand with the other officers receiving promotions or commendations today, and as the crowd got louder, drowning out Pope's ability to call the next honoree, she chanced a glance up and was stunned by what she saw.

Over with the other civilians, Rusty and her son and daughter were all cheering and clapping as loud as they could, and though she couldn't make out the words, she could hear her son and Rusty excitedly chanting something in unison. Turning her head, her gaze found her squad, and without warning tears sprung into her eyes. The whole of Major Crimes was cheering for her, and they doubled their efforts as she looked at each of them- Tao and Buzz were both clapping loudly, as was Sanchez who was holding his hands up high over his head to be clearly seen while Sykes shouted out "Congratulations Commander!" She locked eyes with Flynn who lifted his clapping hands towards her, then tilted his head to Provenza, who had his two fingers in his mouth whistling as loud as he could, his face red with effort. She looked back to Flynn and they shared a laugh from across the stage, and she nodded to each of them and mouthed a silent "thank you" as they continued to cheer for her.

…

After exchanging congratulatory hugs from everyone (even Provenza, who had groused, but then whispered a congratulations in her ear when he finally acquiesced) Sharon was content to lean up against an awning that had been set up to house a pitiful assortment of snacks and watered down punch for the ceremony, and watch as her squad and her children interacted. Buzz and Tao had hit it off with Chris almost immediately, obviously recognizing a fellow tech nerd when they saw one. Johanna was over on the other side of the tent with Sykes, and from the few words of conversation Sharon had made out she thought they were talking about dancing, while Sanchez was standing with Rusty, explaining what each of the medals on his uniform represented.

"Well, was it as bad as you thought?" Provenza came up next to her, and Flynn flanked her from the other side and she looked to both before responding. "Honestly, it was better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you." Flynn smiled, and Provenza raised his glass towards her before downing the cup in one big drink.

Sharon narrowed her eyes. "Lieutenant, you haven't spiked your punch at an official LAPD function, have you? "

"Of course not," he answered too innocently, then raised his voice. "Attention, everyone. Captain… I mean, _Commander_ Raydor has brought up a very good point- I believe it's time to move this celebration to a more appropriate location. I say we all reconvene at Malloys in-"

Flynn leaned in across Sharon to tap Provenza on the shoulder, then tipped his head towards Rusty, and Provenza caught himself.

"Right, right, no Malloy's. Then what about…" he trailed off again, at a loss for a recommendation that wasn't a local bar. This time Andy spoke up a bit louder. "How about that diner over on first?"

Provenza nodded. "Right, that diner over- wait, do they serve alcohol there?" Flynn nodded, and Provenza raised his voice once more. "Right, ok, the diner over on first."

"And…" Provenza called out again, stopping everyone who had started to move back towards the parking garage. "Because she has now been promoted, and I still have not. The _Commander_ will be buying tonight."

A cheer went up around the squad, and though Sharon tried to look put out, she couldn't keep the grin off of her face. "Sounds fair enough, Lieutenant," she said, carefully enunciating the words in his title in the way she knew he hated. Provenza laughed, and everyone else rolled their eyes, and as they made their way to their cars, Sharon wondered not for the first time at the bizarre and wonderful circumstances that had found her part of this odd little extended family of people.


End file.
